PD submits investigation of off-duty LAPD shooting to prosecutors

Officer Kevin Ferguson fired a handgun during a February scuffle with a 13-year-old boy who allegedly made threats about shooting him

By Scott Schwebke
The Orange County Register

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Police Department submitted to prosecutors on Friday its investigation involving off-duty Los Angeles Officer Kevin Ferguson, who fired a handgun during a highly-publicized February scuffle with a 13-year-old boy and other teenagers.

Detectives have spent several hundred hours investigating the incident, Anaheim Sgt. Daron Wyatt said in a statement.

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“More than 90 interviews have been completed, numerous videos have been collected and viewed, and many items of evidence have been submitted and processed,” Wyatt said. “The investigative case file consists of over 400 pages of reports and approximately 70 CDs and DVDs.”

Numerous videos of the incident surfaced showing many individuals who needed to be interviewed, Wyatt said.

“Only recently have Anaheim Police Department detectives felt confident that everyone who needed to be interviewed had been contacted,” the sergeant added.

Detectives will remain in contact with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office as prosecutors determine if charges should be filed against Ferguson, Wyatt said.

The Feb. 21 confrontation with Ferguson and the 13-year-old boy began over ongoing issues with teenagers walking across the officer’s property in the 1600 block of West Palais Road, near Euclid Street, police have said.

The off-duty cop, it appears, confronted the boy and then tried to detained him for allegedly making threats about shooting him, Anaheim’s police chief, Raul Quezada, has said.

Videos quickly surfaced on social media showing Ferguson struggling with the boy and other teenagers before the off-duty officer discharged a handgun into the ground.

It was unclear if he fired on purpose; the shot appeared to go downward, and no one was struck.

The altercation may have started because of a misunderstanding between the boy and the officer, said Gregory Perez, a teenager who has said he witnessed the incident.

“The little kid said, ‘I’m going to sue you,’ and then the guy thought he said, ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ “Perez has said. “That’s when he started grabbing the little kid.”

The incident led to two days of civil unrest in Anaheim.

It is unclear whether Ferguson identified himself as a police officer. However, Anaheim police have said in the past that voices can be heard on video debating whether he was an officer, so “common sense” suggests he had IDed himself as an officer.

The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting its own internal investigation into Ferguson’s actions.

Michelle Van Der Linden, an Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman, said prosecutors will decide whether to file charges after reviewing all of the case materials.